Listening skills are an essential part of any language. There are several things one can do for English listening practice. One of the most common ways to do this is to watch movies. Whether they are dubbed in your native language or not, it is useful to hear the natural speed in which native English speakers speak. Your English listening will improve in no time with this method

In addition, there are many sites you can find around the Internet to help. Segments for free listening English can easily be found on YouTube or any other video site, such as video.about.com. Look for segments in which the speaker speaks clearly at a natural speed. For beginner ESL listening, the speed will seem difficult, but in time it becomes very easy. If you want to increase your technical vocabulary at the same time, look for debates online.

To increase the challenge and difficulty of your listening, start listening to a wide variety of songs in English. Without the video in the background, the speed changes, or even the music in the background, this makes for a very challenging English listening.

If these are not available there are more innovative ways to get ESL listening skills in. Download short stories off the Internet and read them out loud to yourself or a partner. These will help both speaking and listening skills.

A tricky thing that comes up often in English listening practice is a homonym. These are words that are pronounced or spelt the same, but have different meanings. A good English listening exercise will have several of these, which you should be able to figure out from the context of the narrative. For ESL listening, these should be practiced often until the meanings of context are understood.

Remember, a good vocabulary is the base of good listening. Free listening English tapes from the library, bookstore or audio MP3s on the Internet can help with increasing the base vocabulary in any speciality. If you realise that English listening is difficult, it might be good to refresh with these.